Machine usable as a rotary pump or a heat engine



y, 1969 SElJl YAMANE 3,444,820

MACHINE USABLE AS A ROTARY PUMP OR A HEAT ENGINE Filed May 17. 1967 Sheet of 4 y Jen: YA M ANE ngfiww'i'm May 20, 1969 SEIJI YAMANE MACHINE USABLE AS A ROTARY PUMP OR A HEAT ENGI Filed May 17, 1967 INVENTOR.

By Sam YAMAA/E WIQMMG'M Arman"! May 20, 1969 SEIJYYAMANE MACHINE USABLE AS A ROTARY PUMP OR A HEAT ENGINE Sheet 5 of4 Filed May 1'7, 1967 E m Z mnU an Y B May 20, 1969 SEN] YAM-ANE 3,444,820

MACHINE USABLE AS A ROTARY PUMP OR A HEAT ENGINE Filed May 17. 1967 Sheet 4 of 4 I) I, 7x

4 frets/ix! United States Patent 3,444,820 MACHlNE USABLE AS A ROTARY PUMP OR A HEAT ENGINE Seiji Yamane, 26-1, Hatanodai S-chome, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan Filed May 17, 1967, Ser. No. 639,126 Claims priority, application Japan, May 19, 1966,

Int. Cl. F04c 1/02 US. Cl. 103-140 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In a rotary machine such as rotary pump in which a disc-shaped rotor rotates in continuous contact with at least one portion of the inner surface of a casing, there is provided at least one contact member serving as a sealing member between an inlet chamber and an outlet chamber The fluid pressure in the outlet chamber is added to the biasing force of a spring for improving the sealing performance.

Detailed description- The present invention relates to a machine usable as a rotary pump or a heat engine.

There has been proposed a rotary pump in which an eccentric rotary disc rotates in continuous contact with the circular inner surface of a casing at a peripheral portion thereof and a contact member mounted in the casing is kept in sliding contact with the peripheral surface of the rotary disc so as to define fluid inlet and outlet chambers between the inner surface of the casing and the peripheral surface of the rotary disc.

There has been proposed another rotary pump in which a rotor rotates in continuous contact with an arcuate surface portion of the inner surface of a casing and a contact member mounted on the rotor is kept in sliding contact with the inner surface of the casing.

In rotary pumps of these kinds each contact member is held in sliding contact with either the peripheral surface of the rotor or the inner surface of the casing by means of a spring. After a long working time the contact member will be subjected to abrasion and will result in deterioration in its sealing performance. Further it is complicated to mount the contact member either in the casing or on the rotor.

It is the principal object of the present invention to maintain the sealing performance of a contact member independently of its abrasion.

It is another object of the invention to provide a contact member which is simple in construction as well as easy to mount.

It is a further object of the invention to employ a fluid pressure in an outlet chamber as a biasing force in addition to a spring.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a rotary pump embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale showing a contact member of the rotary pump in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the contact member;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of another contact member; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of another rotary pump.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 4, in a casing 1 having the circular inner surface 2 there is rotatably mounted a discshaped rotor 3 which is secured eccentrically on a shaft 4 extending through an end wall 5 of the casing 1. The rotor 3 rotates in continuous contact with the inner surface 2 of the casing 1 at a portion of its peripheral surface 6. At the inner surface 2 of the casing 1 there is formed an arcuate recess 7 in which a segmental contact member 8 is slidably fitted. Mass distribution of the contact member 8 is made nonuniform, for example, by boring holes 9 that the actual center W of gravity thereof takes a position other than the center P of the arc of the recess 7 and furthermore lies inwards with respect to the centroid of plane peripheral contour of the contact member 8 at any possible situations thereof. A spring 10 secure in the casing exerts a moment on the contact member 8 so that the contact. member 8 may slide along the recess 7 in the direction shown by an arrow y coming into continuous contact with the peripheral surface 6 of the rotor 3. The inner surface 2 of the casing 1 and the peripheral surface 6 of the rotor 3 rotating in the direction shown by an arrow x conjointly define an inlet chamber 11 and an outlet chamber 12 in opposite angular directions from the contact member 8. An inlet port 13 of the casing 1 communicates with the inlet chamber 11 while an outlet port 14 of the casing 1 communicates with the outlet chamber 12.

As the rotor 3 rotates in the direction shown by the arrow x, a fluid within the outlet chamber 12 is compressed and delivered through the outlet port 14, The fluid pressure within the outlet chamber 12 exerts a moment on the contact member 8 in same direction as the moment due to the spring 10 so that the contact member 8 in contactwith the peripheral surface 6 of the rotor 3 ensures satlsfactory sealing between the inlet chamber 11 and the outlet chamber 12 during operation of the pump.

In FIG. 5, the rotor 3 has an oval contour symmetrical with respect to the shaft and rotates in sliding contact with the inner surface 2 of the casing 1 at two peripheral portions thereof.

In FIG. 6 the contact member consists of two sectors 15, 15' the outer peripheries of which are guided by the recess 7 of the casing 1 while their inner peripheries are guided by a free roller member 16. Between the opposite antirotor sides of the sectors 15, 15 there is arranged a compression spring 17 which holds the sectors 15, 15' against the peripheral surface 6 of the rotor 3 as shown by arrows y, y. The space 18, which is defined by the opposite antirotor sides of the sectors 15, 15', the roller 16 and the inner surface 2 of the casing 1, communicates with the outlet chamber 12 through a small port 19 of the casing 1. The fluid pressure prevailing in the space 18 causes additionally the sectors 15, 15 to hold against the peripheral surface 6 of the rotor 3 in accordance with delivery pressure of the pump.

In FIG. 7, the inner surface 2 of a pump casing 1 protrudes slightly inwardly at its one portion 21, and a rotor 3 rotates in continuous contact with the portion 21 of the casing 1. An inlet port 13 and an outlet port 14 communicate respectively with an inlet chamber 11 and an outlet chamber 12 in opposite angular directions from the protruding portion 21 of the casing 1. The rotor 3 is formed at its peripheral surface 6 with two arcuate recesses 22 in which contact members having structure similar to that in FIG. 6 are guided. Each contact member consists of two sectors 24 and 24' the outer peripheries of which are guided by the recess 22 of the rotor 3 while their inner peripheries are guided by a free roller member 25. A compression spring 26 holds the sectors 24 and 24 against the inner surface 2 of the casing 1. On the inner end wall there are formed grooves 27 which communicate with the outlet chamber 12 and feed a fluid pressure for holding the sectors 24, 24 against the inner surface 2 of the casing 1 in addition to the spring 26. In this embodiment, a centrifugal force acting on the contact members due to rotation of the rotor 3 also serves to hold them against the inner surface 2 of the casing 1.

The present invention is not limited to a rotary pump. It may be applied advantageously to heat engines such as a high temperature gas motor.

Further it will be understood that variations and modifications may be made in the structure of the machine without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine usable as a rotary pump and as a heat engine comprising a casing, a rotor disk rotatably mounted within said casing, a portion of the peripheral edge surface of said rotor disk and the opposed inner surface of said casing arranged in continuous contacting relationship during rotation of said rotor disk, a pair of recesses formed in diametrically opposed positions in the peripheral surface of said disk, a contact member slidably positioned within each of said recesses in the peripheral surface of said rotor disk and in continuous sealing contact with the oppositely arranged surface of said casing, each said contact member comprises a pair of slidable elethe elements into contacting relationship with said rotor disk, a portion of the peripheral edge surface of said disk and the opposed inner surface of said casing spaced apart and forming therebetween a fluid space, said contact members dividing said fluid space into an inlet chamber and an outlet chamber, and a passageway being provided in said casing and communicating between said outlet chamber and the space formed between the second surfaces of said elements forming said contact member for supplying fluid thereto for combination with said spring means in urging said elements into contact with the opposed surfaces of said rotor disk.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,424,977 8/ 1922 Bidwell.

1,787,708 1/ 1931 Teesdale 103-124 2,198,382 4/ 1940 Fulton 103124 2,212,717 8/1940 Penn 230-149 2,588,342 3/ 1952 Bidwell.

2,832,199 4/1958 Adams et a1;

FOREIGN PATENTS 510,299 1/ 1955 Italy.

DONLEY I. STOCKING, Primary Examiner.

WIBUR J. GOODLIN, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

